Relief Workers Voice New Hope for Somalia : Troops: Southland agencies say U.S. presence may draw support from many who held back because supplies weren’t reaching destinations.

As thousands of U.S. troops headed to Somalia on Sunday, Southern California relief workers voiced the hope that intensified scrutiny of the Somali crisis would boost donations for the drought-ravaged nation.

While much of the United States has only recently learned of the hardships facing this East African nation, major relief organizations have watched for the last 18 months as the rise of clan warfare and generally chaotic conditions have hampered their efforts to provide relief to hundreds of thousands suffering famine as a result of the drought.

The extra burdens placed on the agencies have not--to date--been matched by increased dollars, they say.

“When we first began to shift our attention to what was happening in Somalia, we had a spurt of donations, but that had dropped off,” said Barbara Wilks, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles chapter of the American Red Cross. “We’re hoping the interest spurred by the military intervention will help to pick it up again.”

Wilks said the American Red Cross has donated about $1.7 million to Somali relief efforts. About $800,000 of the total has been used to operate 42 soup kitchens, set up after numerous instances in which food shipments destined for villagers were raided and confiscated by Somali warlords.

The food stations serve meals of rice, beans and lentils each day to about 75,000 people, said Wilks.

In Orange County, the Red Cross chapter has collected nearly $30,000 earmarked for Somalian relief. Youth volunteers are also preparing “friendship boxes”--kits containing toothbrushes, soap, dental floss and tiny toys--to be sent there.

Several other groups in the county have banded together to aid the relief effort as well.

The local UNICEF organization and Hyatt Regency hotels are co-sponsoring two fund-raisers--one at the Hyatt Newporter on Dec. 16, and the other at the Hyatt Regency Irvine on Dec. 19.

The Islamic Center in Garden Grove is also collecting money for Somalia, while the Orange County United Nations Assn. donated $500 from a recent wine and cheese party.

According to the Los Angeles-based aid organization World Vision, each day about 2,000 Somali children die of starvation. An estimated 25% of all children under the age of 5 have perished in the last six months and about three-quarters of children under 5 are threatened with starvation in the next six months.

World Vision President Robert Seiple, in an interview Sunday, said he is confident that Americans--locally and nationally--will respond to the horrifying statistics and the images they conjure.

“The beauty of the American people is if they feel they can have a meaningful impact, they have always given, in recession, during holidays, even when money is tight,” he said. “But they have to be sure it will have an impact.”

Seiple said in that regard that U.S. military intervention would probably influence potential donors who had been put off by stories of aid not getting through to those in need.

“When people saw all the convoys getting held up . . . they put their wallets back in their pockets,” he said. “But, hopefully, all that negative press is transcended now.”

Other relief workers were hoping that military resources would be made available to directly help their own efforts.

The Los Angeles-based Operation USA has sent two shipments of medical supplies such as antibiotics, vitamins and intravenous fluids to Somalia in the last year, said its president, Richard Walden. But an additional 20 tons of supplies will probably sit unused in a San Pedro warehouse if the organization cannot get the military to provide logistic support, he said.

The agency’s efforts have been hampered because American civilian airliners no longer fly to Somalia. In addition, many private charter carriers can no longer get insurance to fly into the country.

Where to Send Aid

Those wishing to help people starving in Somalia can contact the following organizations, which need volunteers as well as donations.

American Red Cross, Orange County chapter, 601 N. Golden Circle Drive, Santa Ana, Calif. 92711-1364, (714) 835-5381.

American Red Cross, Los Angeles chapter, 2700 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, Calif. 90057

Air Serve International, P.O. Box 3041, Redlands, Calif. 92373, (909) 793-2627

UNICEF, 332 Forest Ave., Suite 12, Laguna Beach, Calif. 92651, (714) 497-1655.

Somali Relief and Rehabilitation Assn., 3434 W. 6th St., Suite 250, Los Angeles, Calif. 90020, (213) 489-9629, or 3435 S. Camino del Rio, Apt. 116, San Diego, Calif. 92108.

World Vision, 919 W. Huntington Drive, Monrovia, Calif. 91016, (818) 357-7979 or (818) 357-1111.